Tag Archives: guard

My father, Governor SalmaanTaseer, was assassinated by his own fanatical security guard in January for his stand on Pakistan’s cruel blasphemy laws, and minorities minister Shahbaz Bhatti, the only Christian in the federal cabinet, was gunned down in March allegedly by the Punjabi Taliban for holding a similar view. In April, five of the six men accused of gang raping village woman Mukhtar Mai on the orders of a village council of elders were set free by the Supreme Court. Since the sexual assault on her in 2001, Mai has braved death threats to have her victimisers punished. She has appealed the verdict, but the court, it is widely believed, is unlikely to reverse the acquittal.

In May, Pakistanis around the world hung their heads in shame as Osama bin Laden was found and killed in sleepy, sedate Abbottabad, a stone’s throw from our premier military academy where Army Chief General Ashfaq Pervaiz Kayanispoke just weeks earlier declaring that the “terrorists’ back” had been broken.Then the tortured body of journalist Saleem Shahzad was discovered and suspicion fell on the country’s intelligence services. Pakistan had yet to recover from the devastation wrought by the 2010 floods when the August monsoons inundated Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, and especially Sindh affecting tens of million of people. My older brother, Shahbaz, was kidnapped on August 26. It’s January 2012 now and he is still missing.

These are just some of the highlights from a ruefully eventful year. All of these events played out against the cacophonous discord that we have become accustomed to: target killings, routine disappearances in Kashmir and Balochistan, suicide bombings, riots decrying the overall economic condition of the country, protests mourning the loss of Pakistan’s sovereignty, the unsettling hum of rote learning at poisonous madrassas.

But there’s nothing that’s bad about Pakistan that can’t be fixed by what’s good about it. The narrative of lost hope is a tired one.

After the Arab Spring, the first question I was asked by journalists and interviewers was “When will it be Pakistan’s turn?”. General Zia tried hard to convince us that we’re Arabs, but we clearly are not. Watching Muammar Qaddafi’s bloodied and bullet-riddled body paraded up and down streets as protesters cheered, and seeing desperate dictators inflict violence on their own people, I realised that in many ways Pakistan is far ahead. Our transition from a dictatorship to a democracy was relatively smooth — no bloodshed, no political prisoners, no violence. And in 2010 — long before the Arab Spring — Pakistan’s nascent democracy returned the powers usurped by dictators back to parliament with the 18th Amendment to the Constitution, passed unanimously in parliament. As a people, we are more critical, more engaged. We believe in peaceful evolution of existing structures, not revolution. A record number of people have registered to vote in the upcoming elections and the deadline isn’t even up yet. We’ve snatched our democracy back and we’re not letting it go.

Five months ago, my father Salmaan Taseer was assassinated by his security guard Mumtaz Qadri for opposing misuse of Pakistan’s draconian blasphemy laws. During the investigation, we were shown a video that made my blood freeze. In a tiny madrassa in Rawalpindi, the chief cleric of a little known Sunni religious group, Shabab-e-Islami, was frothing at the mouth, screeching to 150 swaying men inciting them to kill my father, “the blasphemer”.

Qadri was in the audience, nodding and listening intently. A few days later, on January 4, he casually strolled up behind my father and shot him 27 times. As was reported this week, the blasphemy laws are still being used to persecute Christians, while Qadri, who has still not stood trial, is treated as a hero.

The military should apologize for Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto’s judicial murder

By Shiraz Paracha

Excerpt:

Parrot writers and journalists in Pakistan always praise the position of a serving Army Chief. Those who have sold their souls tell us how great the military’s top brass is. It does not matter if it includes generals, who surrendered in Dhaka, and those who ran away from Kargil, or those who killed an elected Prime Minister and tore apart the constitution. Even military leaders accused of corruption, incompetence and misconduct are portrayed as heroes.

It is not surprising that we are told that the current Army Chief, General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, is the only capable saviour of Pakistan. Analysts, anchorpersons and columnists, who pretend to be mouthpieces of the military, inform us that General Kayani is different than his predecessors.

Not very long ago, General Kayani was the right-hand man of General Parvez Musharraff. After Kayani became the Commander-in-Chief, General Musharraff received a guard of honour at the end of his illegal stay in the President House. The military is a state within the state in Pakistan. The sword of a military intervention still hangs over the civilian government as the power equilibrium continues to be in the military’s favour even under General Kayani.

Nonetheless, so far, General Kayani has acted wisely and he appears softer than the previous heads of the Pakistani military. The Armed Forces are supposed to defend a country but the Pakistan military has embarrassed Pakistan many times. The Armed Forces are a symbol of pride for the people of a country; in Pakistan the military has caused national discomfiture. Some Pakistani generals wanted to make history—they left with dark history. ….

…. At the same time, the Supreme Court of Pakistan and the Lahore High Court must reverse the decision of Bhutto’s judicial murder and seek an apology from the people of Pakistan. The Supreme Court is guilty of gross injustice. The Bhutto case is a stain on the institution of judiciary. Bhutto’s blood will stay fresh in the courtrooms until justice is done and Bhutto’s dignity is returned to him by the Court. The integrity and respect of the Supreme Court of Pakistan will never be restored without declaring Bhutto innocent and calling him Pakistan’s national hero.

Also the Supreme Court should formally admit that judges who were instrumental in providing legal cover to martial laws and dictators were actually traitors. The Court should give a similar verdict about generals who imposed military coups and derailed Pakistan. …

Pakistan may be even more vulnerable than Egypt (The News) to popular discontent, with higher inflation, unemployment, and external debt, much of it exacerbated by the devastating flood of 2010 that crippled an already teetering economy. Many Pakistanis are sympathetic (PressTV) to the anger over corruption, surging food prices, and lack of jobs driving Egypt’s protests.

Huma Yusuf, a Pakistan scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, says it is unlikely Pakistanis will unite against a common cause. “Decades of manipulative politicking under military regimes have fractured civil society (Dawn) and factionalized politics,” she writes. “We will always see ourselves through an ethnic, sectarian, or socio-economic lens before we see ourselves as Pakistani.” The murder of Pakistan’s Governor Salman Taseer by his own security guard in January, and support for Taseer’s assassin among many Pakistanis, exposed some of these growing divisions.

Like Egypt, Pakistan is an important strategic partner whose stability matters even more for U.S. national security interests, in neighboring Afghanistan as well as in U.S. efforts to confront al-Qaeda. But U.S.-Pakistan relations have been strained following the detention of a U.S. diplomat on possible murder charges. The Washington Post reports the Obama administration has suspended all high-level dialogue with Pakistan.

LONDON: Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, chairman of Pakistan’s ruling party, on Monday condemned the killing of late Governor Punjab Salmaan Taseer for seeking changes to blasphemy laws, and called those celebrating his death “the real blasphemers.”

Bilawal, the son of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto who was assassinated in 2007, also pledged to defend the country’s minorities who have been targeted in the recent past.

“To the Christian and other minority communities in Pakistan, we will defend you,” he said at a memorial ceremony in London for Salmaan Taseer, the governor of Punjab who was killed by his own security guard last week. “Those who wish to harm you for a crime you did not commit will have to go through me first.” …

TWENTY-SEVEN. That’s the number of bullets a police guard fired into my father before surrendering himself with a sinister smile to the policemen around him. Salmaan Taseer, governor of Punjab, Pakistan’s most populous province, was assassinated on Tuesday — my brother Shehryar’s 25th birthday — outside a market near our family home in Islamabad. …

SUFI POET SHAH ABDUL LATIF

When the world was still to be born
When Adam was still to receive his form
Then my relationship began
When I heard the Lord’s voice
A voice sweet and clear
I said “YES” with my heart
And formed a bond with land (Sindh)
I love
When all of us were one, My bond
then begun.
– Secular Sindhi Sufi (mystic) poet of Peace, Shah Abdul Latif (1689 – 1752)
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M. A. Jinnah’s Speech

"You are free; you are free to go to your temples, you are free to go to your mosques or to any other place of worship in this State of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion or caste or creed – that has nothing to do with the business of the State." - Founder of Pakistan - M. A. Jinnah.

“Minorities to whichever community they may belong, will be safeguarded. Their religion of faith or belief will be secure. There will be no interference of any kind with their freedom of worship. They will have their protection with regard to their religion, faith, their life, and their culture. They will be, in all respects, the equal citizens of Pakistan without any distinction of caste or creed.” ~ M. A. JINNAH, July 14, 1947, at a press conference in New Delhi.

"Education is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world." ~ Nelson Mandela

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``In books I have traveled, not only to other worlds, but into my own. I learned who I was and who I wanted to be, what I might aspire to, and what I might dare to dream about my world and myself. But I felt that I, too, existed much of the time in a different dimension from everyone else I knew. There was waking, and there was sleeping. And then there were books, a kind of parallel universe in which anything might happen and frequently did, a universe in which I might be a newcomer but was never really a stranger. My real, true world. My perfect island.`` -(ANNA QUINDLEN)
In the past I have been jack of all trades- Now my activity is bloging. My off time after my office/job/ is spent mostly with my family [wife & two children (son & daughter). I believe in positive mental attitude and dedication. I am living in Canada and my destiny is hope. "
... and the Truth will set you free." - John 8:32
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Voltaire

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Indus Asia Online Journal is a moderate or a progressive blog or you can call a liberal blog, which focuses on the thoughts and to discuss on socio economic political and geo-political conditions of the world.
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You are using this web page just for viewing purpose only. All users are using this blog at their own risk and agree not hold "IAOJ" liable for any thing resulting from visiting of this blog or any other blog maintained by IAOJ."IAOJ" is not responsible for any content linked to or refered to. All videos, Live Tvs, blogs or videos links point to content hosted on third party websites or we are using third party links. "IOAJ" does not accept responsibility for content hosted on other websites.
"IAOJ" acts as personal Journal, blog or diary . Under no circumstances shall "IAOJ" be responsible for anything or otherwise whatsoever.
The views & opinions expressed on this blog are in no way representative of the views or opinions of the blog.
All-information we may publish here sincerely with little editing, for the reasons to improve the quality of discussion, while giving the maximum room for freedom of expression, clarity & space and it deemed reliable but not guaranteed and should be independently verified.Health Issues
Articles on health issues are not intended to treat, diagnose or prescribe a cure for any health problem. The information contained herein is in no way to be considered as a substitute for your own inner guidance or consultation with a duly licensed health- care professional.
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SAVE INDUS RIVER

HOW COME BAGLIHAR DAM WRONG & KALABAGH DAM RIGHT? “WHEN INDIA DIVERTS PAKISTAN’S WATER, IT IS A TRAVESTY OF JUSTICE UNDER INTERNATIONAL RIVER LAW, WHEN PUNJAB DOES THE SAME TO SINDH, IT IS DEEMED NECESSARY FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF PAKISTAN.”.- Humaira Rahman, a Sindhi-Canadian environmentalist.

"IF YOU WANT TO KILL RIVER BUILDING DAMS IS THE BEST WAY TO DO IT." - CANADIAN DOCUMENTARY MAKER MICHAEL BUCKLEY.

UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS

- All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.
- Every one has the right to freedom of opinion & expression this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference & to seek, receive & impart information and ideas through any media & regardless of frontiers ...

Rabindranath Tagore

Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high;
Where knowledge is free;
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments
by narrow domestic walls;
Where the words come out from the depth of truth;
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection;
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way
into the dreary desert sand of dead habit;
Where the mind is led forward by Thee into ever-widening
thought and action--
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father,
let my country awake. ~ Rabindranath Tagore

The process of change

- [You cannot expect change to happen overnight. The process of change is slow and gradual. It is a work in progress all the time. It happens through legislation, it happens through social transformation, attitude change, and mindset change. So it is indeed a work in progress all the time. You have to keep working on it, without worrying too much to see the outcome in your lifetime....Kaifi Azmi]
- [Change can come in either of two important ways: start behaving positively or stop behaving negatively- Dr. Phill]
- [Freedom cannot exist without discipline, self-discipline, and rights cannot exist without duties. Those who do not observe their duties do not deserve their rights. - Oriana Fallaci.]

Amar Fayaz Buriro – “Sky’s The Limit”

Amar Fayaz

Amar has endeavoured to bring this latest technology to the service of major Pakistani languages such as Sindhi & urdu. He realized that, these languages of his country faced formidable challenges due to non-compatibility with browsers designed especially for the handheld devices such as tablets and cellphones. One of the major issues so far as Urdu was concerned was the use of the traditionally preferred Nastaleeq style on the web. Finally he was able to create the first Web based Nastaleeq font “Amar Nastaleeq”, which is a lightweight font that allows robust and reliable conversion to various embeddable formats for use across major OS’s, browsers and devices. Meanwhile, he also worked at localizing the world’s leading CMS Joomla for Urdu and Sindhi. Today he is developer of more than 50 multilingual & complex websites (including this) which use advanced PHP programming. He also found that majority of the programmers and web developers in our country use nulled versions, cracked software and pirated scripts. This unfortunately is the major cause why most of the websites get hacked and the database management has security issues. Deviating from this practice, he chose to use neat and clean programming and licensed scripts.
Read more about Amar Fayaz » Click Here

The Earth

Our planet doesn't come with a spare. We all have a choice we can continue to drain natural resources while creating more and more pollution or we can make a change we can.. And until we find another planet Earth.

Tao Te Ching (4th cent. BCE)

Weapons are the tools of violence;
all decent men detest them.

Weapons are the tools of fear;
a decent man will avoid them
except in the direst necessity
and, if compelled, will use them
only with the utmost restraint.
Peace is his highest value.
If the peace has been shattered,
how can he be content?
His enemies are not demons,
but human beings like himself.
He doesn't wish them personal harm.
Nor does he rejoice in victory.
How could he rejoice in victory
and delight in the slaughter of men?

He enters a battle gravely,
with sorrow and with great compassion,
as if he were attending a funeral.
--Tao Te Ching (4th cent. BCE)